Under the Angel's spell
by Superhypercarrot
Summary: United by a common goal, bring the little girl home, Katniss and Thresh fight to protect Rue. (Paring Katniss X Thresh) please read! Much better then summary.
1. Chapter 1

Her district partner was a joke. Soft eyed, smooth palmed, he obviously hadn't had to work for anything. Not to say that he was spoilt, but not experienced enough to survive long.

She could last until the end. He saw the survivors instinct in her. The way she held herself, entire body tense, fingers drumming against the table top. She couldn't seem to sit still, her small frame coiled as though prepared to strike. He felt something bubble in his chest when looking at her. Not fear exactly, more like respect. Few would give up their lives for a sibling. He himself had none, and didn't know how someone could feel that strongly about another human being.

Or he hadn't until he met Rue. The small angel with bright eyes, within the first hour he was mad about her, and within the first day, he knew he wouldn't be going home. Rue was the priority. Which is why he couldn't stop looking at district 12. She was a danger to Rue. He had two choices, enemy, or ally. The girl glanced around the hall, dark eyes flitting across everyone, when her eyes landed on him she paused. Grey met brown. She quickly broke eye contact and her eyes landed on Rue, her formerly analysing stare disappeared as the girl's eyes softened. In that moment, Thresh knew, she was an ally.

Pushing off from his chair he caught Rue's hand, the girl's wide eyes gazed up at him and he tugged her gently off her seat, then, swallowing the nervousness in his throat, he approached district 12's table. Katniss Everdeen's eyes followed their every move warily. Rue squeezed his hand and smiled, having already expressed her longing to ally with the girl from 12 during their first meeting. As they halted in front of the table, the boy looked up, startled, but his surprise quickly turned threatening as he noticed that the two from district eleven were looking at his partner.

"Katniss?" Rue chirped, and Thresh bit back a smile, "can we talk to you in private?" The girl looked at them measuringly for a few moments before clambering to her feet. The boy grabbed her arm and looked at her worriedly, but she merely shook him off and walked over to Thresh and Rue, the latter of whom glanced at Thresh, obviously deciding he would be doing the talking. He cleared his throat as Katniss' intense gaze landed upon him, as though she was trying to understand a complex puzzle.

"Rue and I are planning to stick together." He said, the girl nodded, unsurprised, people of the same district tended to ally together, "and we were wondering if you'd join our alliance." The girl bit her lip. He watched, fascinated, as her eyes showed her inner turmoil. She absent-mindedly fiddled with her long, dark braid. Finally, her eyes landed on Rue and she nodded.

"I'm in" she said, and Thresh realised with a jolt, that it was the first time he'd ever heard her speak, her voice was smooth and it took him a moment to comprehend her response. A grin formed on his face,

"Good." He said, " we split in the final 5. No backstabbing. We're not careers, after all." She smiled at him, and his breath caught in his throat. If she smiled like that at the cameras, she was going to get a hell of a lot of sponsors, that was for sure. She turned and began to walk back towards her table, Rue seemed to sag in disappointment, obviously hoping to talk more to the older girl.

"Aren't you going to sit with us?" She called, Katniss turned and met the small girl's eyes.

"If you want..." She said, her eyes met Thresh's, asking silently for his permission, he shrugged. She slid into a spare seat on their table. Rue smiled scarily wide and began to chatter about her brothers and sisters back at home. Katniss nodded and smiled, talking softly to the small girl. By the end of the meal, Katniss glanced in his direction and he saw the decision in her eyes. As they filed into the training all, she muttered into his ear,

"the little girl's going home." Thresh nodded, seeing the determination in his new allies eyes. She, too, had fallen under the little angel's spell.

"seems we have a common goal." He whispered. She nodded and smiled sadly,

"she's too young to die." She whispered, My eyes met hers and my unstated comment lingered on the air,

"aren't we all?"


	2. Chapter 2

Archery.

That was her skill. The bow seemed like an extension to her arm. The moment her fingers closed around the contraption her whole body seemed to relax. Rue's grip on his hand tightened and her eyes grew wide as she watched the older girl fire bullseye after bullseye. Finally, Katniss turned to them, her braid wild and messy, cheeks slightly flushed and eyes alive with excitement. She looked dangerous. She looked beautiful. He supressed the thought as the girl turned her gaze upon him, arching an eyebrow as though asking,

"Impressive, or what?" He nodded silently, fighting the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. She smirked before glancing at the awestruck Rue.

"That was amazing!" The girl cried, clapping her hands together in excitement. "With Thresh's short distance skills in hand to hand, and your long distance skills with your arrows, we can't fail!" Katniss grinned,

"And your brains, little Rue." She said, "Thresh and I wont get far without you Smarty-Pants!" Rue let out a golden laugh and Thresh felt his resolve melt, allowing a wide grin to spread across his face as he engulfed the two girls in a hug. He felt Katniss tense at the contact but she soon relaxed. With the two girls in his arms he felt oddly strong, as though he was untouchable. Rue let out a sob, and as quickly as it came, the feeling was gone.

immediately, Katniss was on her knees, meeting the tiny girl's eyes, "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice gentle as she wiped tears off the younger girl's face.

"I- I- I don't want to die..." She mumbled, and Katniss threw her arms around the girl,

"We wont let that happen." She said firmly, Rue shook her head.

"I don't want you guys to die either." She said, another round of sobs racking her small frame. Katniss sighed,

"Everyone dies eventually." She murmured softly, Thresh sat down on the floor, resting his back against the wall,

"It's ok to die for something you believe in." He found himself saying, he shut his eyes, resting his head against the wall,

"But, you don't believe in the Hunger Games!" Sniffed Rue, Thresh shook his head as Katniss sat down too, bringing Rue down with her and cradling the small girl in her arms,

"We believe in you Rue." He said, his voice breaking slightly. Katniss rested her head on his shoulder, arms still wrapped around the girl. No one said anything for a long time, they just sat there. With Katniss' head on his shoulder, and Rue in her arms, Thresh felt an odd sense of peace that he'd never felt before, it was a shame that he had to find it when he knew he was mere days from death. But, as he closed his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to care.

* * *

"What were you doing with him?" hissed Peeta, grabbing his district partner by the hand and tugging her towards the elevators, the girl snarled,

"Get off me!" She hissed, pulling her hand free. The boy turned to face her, his blue eyes wounded as he responded,

"I'm sorry, but, you can't get too close to them, not when it's going to be you or them in the end." Katniss folded her arms across her chest,

"they're my allies." She said stubbornly, Thresh smacked himself in the face, so much for keeping that a secret until the interviews. Peeta gazed at the girl in shock,

"you can't have allies! They'll stab you in the back." he cried, "and you can't, no, you mustn't die." Katniss raised an eyebrow as the boy's cheeks flushed red,

"and why is that?" She asked mockingly, Peeta stared at her for a few seconds, before leaning forwards and kissing the dark haired girl. Thresh felt his vision tint red for reasons he didn't quite understand, but It didn't last long, Katniss shoved the boy off her and he hit the floor with a thump.

"Stay away from me." She hissed, before stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for 12. Thresh and Rue stepped in after her, and as Rue passed, Thresh couldn't help but notice how she subtly kicked the boy on the floor. A small smile flitted across his face at the sight,

"just wait till we're in the arena 12." He muttered under his breath.


	3. Chapter 3

She was running, her dark hair flying out behind her. He opened his mouth and called out her name.

"Katniss!" the girl turned and his insides knotted. She was smiling, a wide, bright smile that lit up her whole face. But that wasn't what made him stop. A line of blood was trickling out of the corner of her mouth, down her chin. A gaping hole was visible through the beautiful girl's chest. Her clothes were soaked in blood, and her hand stretched out towards him as she mouthed his name.

"Katniss" he screamed, running towards her. The girl staggered and began to fall. He caught her in his arms and gazed at her face, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and he muttered her name over and over. Finally a shuddering sigh racked the girl's small frame and she was still. The world around him fell to pieces. "katniss!" he roared her name over and over, "Katniss! Katniss!"

"Wake up." Rue bellowed into his ear, Thresh sat bolt upright, face covered in sweat as he gasped for breath. Rue leaned forward and hugged him, "Are you ok?" she asked, face pale. He felt guilt coil in his chest, the night before the interviews and he was scaring his partner.

"I'm fine." He said shortly, Rue half smiled,

"No you're not." She said, "did you have a nightmare?" Thresh nodded silently, Rue frowned, "do you want me to get Katniss?" she asked. Thresh shut his eyes as the image of said girl floated into his head again, dead.

"No." He said sharply, Rue looked taken aback, "sorry," he said, "don't disturb her, I'll be fine." Rue nodded and clambered off his bed, bare feet padding silently on the thick carpet as she made her way back to bed, she paused when she reached the door,

"I'm sorry..." she said to him, eyes shining, "about you and Katniss..." Thresh felt himself nod, although he didn't quite know what she was apologising for. Then, with one final sad look at the boy, Rue turned and walked away. Thresh slumped against the head of his bed, taking a deep breath, the image of Katniss still flickering across his eyelids. His stomach churned and he realised with a jolt that his fists were clenched. Laying back down slowly against the pillow he shut his eyes hoping for a sleep untainted by dead girls with long dark hair and fiery grey eyes.

* * *

"So, a 10 in your training score, eh? Care to tell us how you achieved such a high score?" Thresh shrugged.

"Don't think I'm allowed..." he said, a lazy half smile flickered across his face, "Not much, I thought, but it seemed to impress the gamemakers." Caesar Flickerman smiled,

"Well, confident much?" he said, causing the audience to laugh, Thresh sneered, "Well, a big lad like you, any special ladies waiting for you back home?" asked Caesar, Thresh nodded seriously,

"My Gran, love you grandma!" he waved at the camera, bringing forth a second round of laughter from the audience. Caesar rolled his eyes cheerfully.

"You misunderstand me..." he said, "I wondered if you had any... romantic interests..." the presenter waggled his eyebrows at the  
audience, Thresh smiled,

"There are only three important ladies in my life Caesar." He said, the man leaned forwards eagerly.

"Care to tell us who they may be?" he asked. Thresh nodded and the audience leaned forwards in anticipation,

"One, as I have already said, my Gran, and the other two..." Thresh paused, "Two amazing girls, whom I didn't know at all until the reaping, and I now can't imagine life without them..." the smile was gone from Thresh's face as he turned and glanced at the two girls, Katniss nodded slightly, eyes unusually bright, and Rue smiled nervously at him. Caesar sighed sadly,

"an unfortunate predicament, but you still haven't told us who you are referring to." He said, Thresh nodded,

"My delightful allies, Katniss Everdeen and Rue Firelex." The two girls waved, Katniss' arm protectively around the small girl.

* * *

"She came here with me."

Five word sealed Peeta Mellarks' destruction. Thresh caught Katniss' eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were dark in anger.

"keep calm." He mouthed at her. The girl was trembling slightly. The moment the interviews were over he wrapped his arms around the girl,

"Deep breaths." He murmured. Rue tugged at Katniss' hand.

"Please Katniss, don't do anything rash." She said pleadingly.

"Katniss." Said Haymitch sharply, "come now." Katniss turned,

"did you know about this?" she hissed at the man, he scowled,

"Of course, it was a good angle." The girl glared at him, eyes filled with hatred. Thresh nudged her sharply,

"Keep calm..." he murmured. The girl nodded sharply. She stepped into the lift after her mentor.

"Mellark's going to die, isn't he..." said Rue, Thresh smiled sharply,

"let's hope so..." he muttered.

* * *

**Please review, hope you liked, Merry Christmas**


End file.
